Stacking device for sheet material



June 2, 1964 G. ZWEIG STACKING DEVICE FOR SHEET MATERIAL Filed Aug. 3. 1961 INVENTR.

GILBERT ZWEIG ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,135,569 STACKING DEVICE FOR SHEET MATERIAL Gilbert Zweig, New York, N.Y., assignor to Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 129,185 6 Claims. (Cl. 271-86) This invention relates generally to sheet feeding devices and more particularly to a device for transferring individual sheets or cards from a feeding path to a delivery station angularly displaced relative to the feeding path.

An object of the invention is to provide a passive device or system for transferring a moving sheet or card from a feeding path to a point of delivery. The term passive is used in the sense that the device employs no moving parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a device having means for suitably decelerating a moving sheet or card so that it may be transferred effectively to the delivery station.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a stacking device for elastic sheet and card items provided with means for decelerating such a sheet or card moving along a feeding path, and with means for so stressing the sheet or card that its elastic property will aid in transferring it from the feeding path into a stacking bin.

In accordance with the above objects and first considered briefly in its broad aspects, the invention utilizes a guideway for sheet or card items which is so constructed that it will guide and decelerate a sheet or card moving along a feeding path and which is provided with means in the path of movement of the sheet or card for changing its direction so that it will move from the feeding path to a point of delivery.

The invention will be more clearly understood when the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof is read in conjuncion with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of a card stacker constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, and including also a stack of cards;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, taken in the direction of lines 33 of FIG. 1, and showing also the stack of cards, and another card in the process of being stacked; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1, and showing also a condition of the card being stacked as it moves along the feeding path guideway.

Turning now to the detailed description, the illustrated embodiment of the invention is intended to be attached to a sheet or card processing machine in any suitable manner, well-known, and comprises two elongated, spaced apart rail structures and 12 (FIGS. 1 and 4) defining a guideway or feeding path for sheets or cards 13 (FIGS. 2 and 3) delivered individually into the guideway by associated feeding devices, not shown, of the sheet or card processing machine.

In the present embodiment, the rail structures 10 and 12 are identical except that one is left-hand and the other right-hand. Each rail structure 10 and 12 includes a central rail 14 and a forward guide lip 16. To the rear of each rail 14 is a guide plate 18. The rail structures 10 and 12 may also be regarded as including the guide plates 18 and together with the guide plates exhibit somewhat of a channel-shaped formation (FIG. 4) in cross-section. As so regarded, each rail 14 would constitute the base of a channel and each guide lip 16 and associated guide plate 18 would constitute legs thereof.

3,135,5(39 Patented June 2, 1964 ice The rail structures 10 and 12, including the guide plates 18, are secured to frame members 20 and 22, respectively, of the device in any suitable manner, not shown. As viewed in FIG. 1, the rails 14 and guide lips 16 are arranged parallel at the rightward end, or entrance 24 to the guideway, and converge initially in the region 26 as they extend leftwardly toward the delivery station, the latter in this case represented by a stacking bin 28. At a position opposite the entrance 30 (FIG. 2) to the stacking bin 28, the rails 14 and guide lips 16 converge at a higher rate as at 32 (FIG. 1), and finally assume a parallel arrangement as at 34 at the end of the guideway.

Arranged across the feeding path to intercept a sheet or card moving along the guideway is a cam 36 secured to the lower leg 37 of a 2 member 38, as by bolts 40, the upper leg 39 of the Z member being secured to the frame member 29 by bolts 41.

In the operation of transferring a sheet or card from the rail structure guideway to the delivery station or stacking bin 28, a card 13', shown in phantom in FIG. 4, is fed into the guideway at the entrance 24, by the associated feeding devices, not shown, with its top and bottom edges freely received between the rails 14 and its top and bottom margins between the guide lips 16 and guide plates 18, and with sufiicient velocity to reach the stacking position at the bin 28. As the card 13 proceeds leftwardly, as viewed in FIG. 1, through the channels of the rail structures 10 and 12, the initial convergence of the rails 14 at the region 26, to a spaced-apart distance less than the width of the card, will bow the card, as shown in solid lines in FIG. 4, and decelerate it. As the card gets into the vicinity of the stacking bin 28, it will be bowed and decelerated further by the steeper convergence 32 of the rails 14 and will have impinged upon the first lobe 42 (FIG. 2) of the cam 36 which will aid in the further bowing and decelerating of the card. When the card has reached the transfer, or stacking, position at the stacking bin 28, it will have impinged upon the second lobe 44 of the cam 36 and will have been decelerated practically to a stop when it reaches this position. In its final movement leftwardly to the stacking position, the card 13' will be severely bowed by the cam lobe 44 to such an extent that its margins will be drawn out of the rail structure channels, as shown in solid lines in FIG. 3, from behind the guide lips 16 until the card margins are free of the guide lips. The card will then spring elastically into the stacking bin 28, as depicted by the phantom view of the card (FIG. 3) en route to the stacking bin.

While there has been shown a specific structure exemplary of the principles of the invention, it is to be understood that this is but one embodiment thereof and that the invention is capable of being constructed in a variety of shapes, sizes and modifications without departing from its true spirit and scope. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific structure disclosed but only by the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A stacking device for sheets, cards and the like comprising, opposed spaced-apart rail structures forming an elongated guideway for conducting individual cards in succession along a feeding path toward a stacking bin, each rail structure having a channel-shaped crosssection for guiding therein a side margin of a card which extends in the direction of feeding, said rail structures converging at an initial rate toward said stacking bin to a spaced-apart dimension less than the width of a card measured transversely to the feeding path for exerting forces on the associated side edges of said side margins for initially bowing and decelerating a said card moving along the guideway toward said stacking bin, and subsequently converging at a greater rate in the vicinity of said stacking bin for further bowing and decelerating the said moving card, and a fixed cam adjacent to said stacking bin and in the path of movement of said further bowed and decelerated card for continuing the bowing thereof until its said side margins spring free of said rail structure channels to cause the card to deposit itself in said stacking bin.

2. A device for transferring elastic sheets, cards and the like from a feeding path to a stacking bin comprising, two opposed spaced-apart rail structures forming an elongated guideway for conducting cards in succession along said feeding path, one end of said guideway leading to said stacking bin, said rail structures being parallel at the other end of said guideway and arranged to guide a card along the feeding path by its side margins which extend in the direction of feeding, said rail structures converging from said parallel other end toward said stacking bin to a spaced-apart dimension less than the Width of a card measured transversely to the feeding path for exerting progressively increasing forces on the associated side edges of said side margins for decelerating a said card and for bowing it along its medial portion between said side edges as the card is moving along the guideway toward said stacking bin, and a cam for continuing said bowing of the decelerated card until its said side margins spring laterally out of said rail structures, said freed card flexing elastically to snap into said stacking bin.

3. A device for transferring sheets, cards and the like from a feeding path to a delivery station comprising, two opposed spaced-apart rail structures forming an elongated guideway for conducting cards in succession along said feeding path, one end of said guideway being adjacent to said delivery station, said rail structures being parallel at the other end of said guideway and arranged to guide a card along the feeding path by its side edges extending in the direction of feeding, at least one of said rail structures converging from said parallel other end relative to the other rail structure for exerting a progressively increasing force on a said side edge of a card for decelerating a said card and for bowing it along its medial portion between said side edges as the card is moving along the feeding path toward said delivery station, and means for transferring the bowed decelerated card from the feeding path to said delivery station.

4. A device for transferring freely moving sheets in succession from a feeding path to a delivery station, the sheets having been set in motion and moving bodily under their own momentum, said device comprising, opposed rail structures forming an elongated guideway for conducting sheets in succession along said feeding path, one end of said guideway being adjacent to said delivery station, said rail structures being formed to guide a sheet along the feeding path by its side edges extending in the direction of feeding, at least one of said rail structures having a formation adjacent said one end cooperating with the other said rail structure for gradually decelerating a sheet moving freely along the feeding path toward said delivery station, and means for effecting a transfer of the decelerated sheet from the feeding path to said delivery station.

5. A device for transferring sheets from a feeding path to a delivery station comprising means forming a guideway for conducting sheets along said feeding path and having terminal ends, one said terminal end being adjacent to said delivery station, a portion of said guideway means adjacent said one terminal end being formed to decelerate a sheet moving along the feeding path toward said delivery station by exerting forces on the side edges of the sheet which extend in the direction of feeding, and stationary cam means for transferring the decelerated sheet from the feeding path to said delivery station.

6. A device for transferring freely moving sheets from a feeding path to a delivery station, the sheets having been set in motion and moving bodily under their own momentum, said device comprising, means forming a stationary guideway for such sheets moving along said feeding path and having terminal ends, one said terminal end being adjacent to said delivery station, and a portion of said guideway means adjacent said one terminal end being formed to decelerate a sheet moving freely along the feeding path toward said delivery station by exerting forces on the side edges of the sheet which extend in the direction of feeding and to transfer the decelerated sheet from the feeding path to said delivery station.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,891,286 Micrsch Dec. 20, 1932 1,962,050 Beidler June 5, 1934 3,007,698 MacDonald et al Nov. 7, 1961 

1. A STACKING DEVICE FOR SHEETS, CARDS AND THE LIKE COMPRISING, OPPOSED SPACED-APART RAIL STRUCTURES FORMING AN ELONGATED GUIDEWAY FOR CONDUCTING INDIVIDUAL CARDS IN SUCCESSION ALONG A FEEDING PATH TOWARD A STACKING BIN, EACH RAIL STRUCTURE HAVING A CHANNEL-SHAPED CROSS-SECTION FOR GUIDING THEREIN A SIDE MARGIN OF A CARD WHICH EXTENDS IN THE DIRECTION OF FEEDING, SAID RAIL STRUCTURES CONVERGING AT AN INITIAL RATE TOWARD SAID STACKING BIN TO A SPACED-APART DIMENSION LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF A CARD MEASURED TRANSVERSELY TO THE FEEDING PATH FOR EXERTING FORCES ON THE ASSOCIATED SIDE EDGES OF SAID SIDE MARGINS FOR INITIALLY BOWING AND DECELERATING A SAID CARD MOVING ALONG THE GUIDEWAY TOWARD SAID STACKING BIN, AND SUBSEQUENTLY CONVERGING AT A GREATER RATE IN THE VICINITY OF SAID STACKING BIN FOR FURTHER BOWING AND DECELERATING THE SAID MOVING CARD, AND A FIXED CAM ADJACENT TO SAID STACKING BIN AND IN THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAID FURTHER BOWED AND DECELERATED CARD FOR CONTINUING THE BOWING THEREOF UNTIL ITS SAID SIDE MARGINS SPRING FREE OF SAID RAIL STRUCTURE CHANNELS TO CAUSE THE CARD TO DEPOSIT ITSELF IN SAID STACKING BIN. 